As a series that prides itself in level playing field competition, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios Challenge one-make series reaffirms its long-standing tradition of keeping race fans at the edge of their seats with no clear favourites as Season 7 comes to an end this weekend.
Two, or possibly even three new overall champions, will be crowned this weekend with no less than three contenders in the running in each of the three respective categories: Super Sporting Class for elite drivers; Sporting Class for amateurs; and Rookie Class for young drivers.
Season 7 has been made even more challenging and unpredictable with the introduction of the new fourth generation Vios that essentially had the grid of 34 drivers acquainting themselves to the new characteristics of the vehicle. Season 7’s competitors included drivers from Thailand, Singapore and India for the very first time.
The finale held at the 5.543km Petronas Sepang International Circuit will be a closed event but broadcast live on all of UMW Toyota Motor’s social media platforms.
Season 7 which began in August last year, consists of three rounds and six individual races offering a combined RM630,000 in prize monies which includes RM330,000 paid out to race winners in the three individual rounds.
In the closely-contested premier Super Sporting Class, the overall championship is still anyone’s race with five drivers having a mathematical chance of being crowned champion.
The three with the best hope are Axle Sport’s Naquib Azlan, defending champion Mitchell Cheah of Prima Pearl TD Racing and Telagamas Toyota’s Freddie Ang. Another two drivers – Laser Motor Racing’s Amer Harris and TD Racing’s Hayden Haikal who is also a former champion, too have a shot – albeit slim – of emerging champion although they will require both race wins this weekend to bolster their chances.
At stake will be RM80,000 in prize monies for the overall champion, RM60,000 for the runner-up and RM40,000 for the third place winner.
“I believe the team and I are capable of bringing this championship win home. Mitchell is a strong competitor and it definitely will not be a walk in the park but yes, I am confident that we can do it,” said Super Sporting championship prospect Naquib. Super Sporting is the only title that eludes him having worked his way up into the elite class after winning the Rookie Class 2021 and Sporting Class in 2022.
“Regarding preparation, I would love to be behind the wheel of my car to prepare but with that not being possible I just keep myself fresh by being on the simulator and turn to a lot of self reflection to see where I can improve heading into this final round.”
The Sporting Class, as it has always been for the past 7 seasons meanwhile, continue to be extremely too close to call with numerous drivers having their fair share of podium limelight. Like the Super Sporting Class, the championship is pretty much undecided but three candidates emerge as clear favourites. They are BAE Racing by ES Young’s Elson Lew who won the last two races; Kenneth Koh of PCM Group Racing Team who has been consistently on the podium over the last four races with one win, one second place and two third place wins; and Race Rally KL’s Shafiq Samsudin with one race win and one third place to his credit. Again, nothing less than two race wins will consolidate the best man’s chances of becoming the 2024 champion.
For Koh, Season 7 is shaping up as his best shot at the overall title so far since joining the series in 2017 but Lew’s back to back victory in Round 2 also sees the former Rookie Class driver hungry to win and move up into the premier class for a chance of racing alongside his father – veteran racer Eddie Lew.
They will be fighting for prize monies amounting to RM60,000, RM40,000 and RM20,000 for the winner, runner-up and third place overall finishes.
In the Rookie Class for young drivers under the GAZOO Racing Young Talent Development Program, 18-year-old pro karter Adam Mikail emerges as the clear front runner with three race wins in four races but it is 22-year-old recreational karter Brandon Ho who has been the most consistent with four podium finishes – one race win, two second places and one third place finish. A third contender is 21-year-old simulator racer Raja Amirul Syauqat who began the season conservatively with a fourth and fifth place finish before scoring a second and third place finish in the last two races.
“Coming into the final round I feel quite confident as I clearly see the chance for me to win the overall rookie title. I see the other competitors continuously improving and so that pushes me to keep training,” said Adam.
“I continue to work on my stamina and overall fitness to prepare for this upcoming race as I believe that fitness is the key to consistency, and consistency is what I am aiming for.”
For fellow rookie Ho, his recent stint competing in the Sepang 1000KM Endurance Race has been strong enough motivation to do well this weekend.
“To win the overall title will be challenging but I’ll do my best and push for the title. Preparation for the final round is doing great. A podium finish in S1K definitely helped me prepare for this final round especially in terms of stamina because I successfully completed a 5-hour stint in S1K. I am ensuring that I maintain my fitness level by frequently working out.
“Going into the final round of the season as a rookie, my goal is definitely to extract as much points as I can from both remaining races as the gap in points to the championship leader is only 14 points.”
The race weekend will also set the stage for the launch of the face lifted GR Corolla and Corolla GR Sport, and reintroduction of the GR Yaris.
For more information, log on to log on to www.toyota.com.my/en/tgrmalaysia, youtube.com/tgrmalaysia, and instagram.com/tgrmalaysia.
